Statement on Upcoming Withdrawal of MCRSA Regulations

Author: BureauPublished: Jul 26, 2017Sacramento, CA

Earlier this spring, the Department of Consumer Affairs’ Bureau of Cannabis Control, Department of Public Health and Department of Food and Agriculture released proposed regulations for the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act. These licensing authorities held public hearings and accepted written comments regarding the proposed regulations. However, in late June, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed into law, the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act, which creates one regulatory system for both medicinal and adult-use cannabis. As a result, the licensing authorities will withdraw the proposed medical cannabis regulations noticed for public comment on April 28 and May 5, 2017. The withdrawal is likely to happen early next month.

The three cannabis licensing authorities are each developing new proposed regulations based on the new law for the commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis industries. During this process, the licensing authorities will consider the robust and valuable public comment received regarding the proposed medical cannabis regulations.

The licensing authorities will use the emergency rulemaking process for the new proposed regulations. The emergency regulations are expected to be published in fall 2017. The implementation date for the issuance of commercial cannabis licenses remains the same: January 2, 2018.